Alrewas – a personal reflection
Seventeen members of the Long Compton & District Royal British Legion visited the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas on 24 June. We were most grateful to legionnaire Nick Jackson for driving us there in a hired bus. More humbling than ever, I feel, are the towering stone walls of the Armed Forces memorial with the ever-lengthening list of those servicemen and servicewomen who have died serving Great Britain and the Commonwealth since 1945. I especially recall three memorials from this recent visit, each with a village connection here in Barton. First, I saw the superb Polish memorial, the centrepiece of which is a huge Polish eagle. Here is engraved the story of the dual assault on Poland by Germany and Russia in September 1939 – and the reason for Great Britain going to war with Germany. I thought of Dr Zbigniew Pelczynski in Barton who fought in the Warsaw uprising as a young man. Second, the Dieppe Raid memorial indicates that the naval forces there were commanded by Captain John Hughes-Hallett RN, a second cousin of Michael Hughes-Hallett of Barton. Third, the Popski’s Private Army memorial lists the components of ‘Porter Force’, who crossed the River Po in northern Italy in 1944, commanded by Lt Col Andrew Horsbrugh-Porter of the 27th Lancers, my wife Caroline’s father.
Barney Henderson
St Lawrence Church
Canon Anthony Wells came and had a cup of coffee with me on 6 July. He had read my article in the Barton section of the July LINK. He was concerned with the words I had written in the last sentence of my report, relating to the sermon he gave on 13 June concerning Naboth’s vineyard. I had written, “Nobody can truly understand Jesus Christ until he or she has been humiliated”. Anthony was concerned that LINK readers might be baffled by my use of the word ‘humiliated’. I understood at once what he meant. I should have written, “Nobody can truly understand Jesus Christ until he/she realises God loves them and has forgiven the debt of their sin”. In the end, the words Jesus spoke to Mary (the harlot) – “Your faith has saved you, go in peace” – are the essential message.
Barney Henderson
The 2010 MacRide
Last year Barton acted as a half way stop for the 200 experienced cyclists who completed the 100 km, very grueling ‘MacRide’ in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. The cyclists were extremely appreciative of all that Barton residents did to support them. That weekend, just under £40,000 was raised for the charity through this and two related cycle challenges. On Sunday 12 September the MacRide takes place again, and this year there will be around 300 riders passing through Barton over a two-hour period. We will be providing the same kind of refreshments, and lots of encouragement as riders complete the ‘dip’ between us and the Wolfords, prior to setting off up the very steep hill to Little Compton. If you are willing to help by providing food or stewarding, please get in touch.
Barton summer fete, 3 July
The fete took place in hot sunshine. This year we borrowed the fantastic mini-marquees from the Wolfords, which are far preferable to one large tent. Nick Gill and band provided live jazz, while people sank into garden chairs with pints of Hooky, large glasses of pimms and helpings of hog roast. Olly Coker ran an amazing toy stall, helped by Kerri, and between them sales hit the £100 mark, which is a record at the Barton fete. Two kind friends from London ran the produce stall, enjoying it as much themselves as those who cleared out everything they were selling. Betsy Hughes-Hallett baked trays of muffins and ran from her kitchen to the stall throughout the afternoon. Hot cakes hit the spot for many people and disappeared like hot cakes do. We had the same team of friends running the bar as last year and we followed their suggestions for new drinks to offer. All their ideas worked well. Next door to the bar was the tombola, with a staggering display of bottles, far more than ever before. Special thanks are due to those who collected the bottles and ran the stall. It was a miracle that Barton’s ‘garden corner’ happened, such was the difficulty of keeping 500 plants alive and well in the heatwave that preceded the fete. But it did happen and plant pots flew out of our drive gates as they have done for the last four years. Helpful friends, family and neighbours ran the bric a brac, the book stall, the ‘old bag’ stall, splat-the-rat, face painting, gladiators, children’s clothes, cream teas, milk the cow and roulette. Everyone who contributed goods, helped at the set-up or ran a stall on the day has been personally thanked, but I would like to say in these pages how amazing they all are and what fun they are to work with. We are a small village with less than a hundred people so it is quite an achievement that we made a profit of just over £2200. Once the accounts have been independently verified a summary will appear on village notice boards and the fete committee will meet to decide how the profits are to be distributed.
We have already fixed the date for the 2011 fete. It will take place on Saturday 25 June from 4 to 7 pm.
St Lawrence Church store
I would like to thank John Castle very sincerely for spending nearly four hours on 16 July constructing the new shelves in the church storeroom and the bell tower room. These will greatly help the organization of both places.
Barney Henderson
All pictures on this page can be made bigger simply by clicking on them!
Wendy Hicks wins garden prize
Wendy Hicks of Barton has recently won the best exhibit in the ‘Borders without Gardens’ section of the 2007 Malvern Spring Gardening Show, and with it a coveted Royal Horticultural Society Silver Gilt Award. In 2006 Wendy graduated with a distinction from the four-year part-time course on garden design at Pershore Horticultural College. Completing this course and bringing up a young family at the same time was an outstanding achievement. Wendy has now been accepted by Gloucestershire University to complete a BA in Garden and Landscape Design. Over the next year Wendy has a strong desire to create a show garden at one of the RHS shows with the purpose of raising the profile of a local charity or business.
Village Fete
This year’s fete on 30 June was organised by a committee of three: Suzie Coker, Jayne Hanks and Maggie Pettifer. All the traditional and popular games were there, made many years back by Kevin Line: Splat the Rat, Milk the Cow, Roulette and Treasure Island. Indeed, so popular are these games that several villages have now asked to borrow them. Please click this link if this is of interest to you
All requests will be sent to Maggie (very modest charge to borrow them). Plants flew through the air from 4 pm for those lucky people who had heard about the ‘500 Barton-grown plants at less than £3’, as well as a busy trade in bygones and cakes/preserves, and a tombola that ‘sold out’ in just over an hour. Despite the damp weather the fete made a healthy profit, most of which goes to St Lawrence Church. John and Elizabeth Dawson came back from Ireland especially to run the fete finances and help sell Barton House wine. Oxford Classic Jazz Trio provided such good music that several American visitors broke into dance.
Had the sun got its hat off many more might have joined them. Meanwhile, Country Fish and Chips, Fanny Rickett’s ice cream stand and the 100 scones baked by Doreen Richardson provided sustenance for what turned out to be a surprisingly late finish, despite the light rain. The committee has written to every volunteer, and our four sponsors, and thanked them for their magnificent effort. It was a great party.
The Flower Festival
Wednesday before the fete was the official preview event for the Flower Festival in St Lawrence Church organised single-handedly by Jayne Hanks. The ten or so professional arrangements dwarfed the interior of our tiny village church, looked breathtakingly beautiful, and smelt divine. The flowers were arranged by Jayne, along with Annie Dancer, Jane Cox, Pat Harvey, Maureen Ratcliffe, Betty Teague and Sue Close. Thanks are due to Mr and Mrs Cathie for providing the wine for the preview, and to Mike and Billie Whitehouse for their brochure design and printing. Whilst the rain kept some of the tourists away, people in the village kept popping on for another look, and the Festival culminated with a delightful Songs of Praise at St Lawrence on Sunday 1 July led by the Reverend Richard Burn, with Alan Fisher playing the organ. Ten families in the village donated sponsorship funds to make the event viable and they were joined by kind donations from Carty and Empson, and Wyatts. Congratulations to Jane for a memorable festival.
Photographic exhibition
An exhibition of village photographs taken by Vic Charles between 1990 and 2003 were displayed in the Old School and opened to the public on the day of the fete. The exhibition was organised and mounted by Mike Whitehurst and involved a tremendous amount of work, for which the village is very grateful.
Vic Charles’ 90th birthday
A large circle of Vic Charles’ friends gathered in the marquee on the green on Sunday 1 July to wish him a very happy 90th birthday. Mary Muir, Vince’s daughter, produced a beautiful cake for the occasion, and she and Gillian Cathie produced all the food, whilst Hamish Cathie provided the wine and also proposed Vic’s health. This was a happy occasion for a very popular villager.
John Shipton’s retirement as church warden
In recognition of John Shipton’s 15 years as warden at St Lawrence Church the village held a party for him in the Old Parochial Church School on Friday 6 July. A vote of thanks for his dedicated service was made by Barney Henderson and a village presentation of a wine decanter and a case of Les Grands Marechaux 1999 was made by Hamish Cathie.
Marie Curie Appeal
I should like to thank all the generous contributions to the recent appeal. The total raised was in excess of £5000 – a marvellous and worthy result.
Thank you.
John Shipton
Michael Whitehurst
The Brown House
Michael’s father died in early July.
Michael is grateful to all those people in the village who have offered him their condolences as a result of his and Billie’s loss.
Goodbye from the Dawsons
The Dawsons left Barton two months ago and have recently sent ‘a brief goodbye’ from Ireland: We moved to Barton just before Christmas 2005 and our first invitation was to Michael and Penelope (Hughes-Hallett) for mince pies and a glass of wine after the Carol Service. From that moment on we fell in love with the village. We felt so welcome, and always included in everything that was going on. Hamish and Gillian (Cathie) were the best of neighbours and we certainly felt we belonged when it became time for the annual fete. It was all hands to the pump! We are so sad to be leaving Barton and moving back to Ireland. Unfortunately we are needed back to look after our business. Thank you for making our stay in Barton such a great experience.
John and Elizabeth Dawson
News